Closed Cohoes Community Center to be put up sale

The board running the shuttered Cohoes Community Center plans to put the building up for sale, but the city is still holding out hope that it can take over the facility.

For five months, the Cohoes Community Center has been shut tight. It closed in October because of financial hardships leaving families and seniors without the programs and recreational facilities that enriched their lives. More than 300-thousand dollars in debt, and with ongoing monthly expenses, Assemblyman John McDonald says the board that runs the center has no other option but to list it.
“Time is running short which is why they made this very difficult decision,” he said.
McDonald secured a half-a-million dollars in grant money to help a municipality that wants to take ownership of the privately-owned center. But so far, no agreement. An Albany County spokesperson says they are getting an engineering assessment of the building done in order to make an informed decision.
“Our library is probably a million-and-a-half dollars in need of repairs,” said Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse.
He says the city may be able to buy the center if it can become a multi-purpose facility that would include the library. The building that houses the library currently could then be sold off,” said Morse.
“If we can’t make that happen then I’m as sad as anyone else because then who knows what it will become of it if it’s sold,” said Morse.
The mayor says he’ll be walking through the building with library board tomorrow to see if it’s a viable possibility.

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